Olaf Metzel
Warhol

For Warhol, Olaf Metzel reworked three copies of the aluminum folds entitled Empört (EB77b), which were produced in 2011 in an edition of six. By bending, folding, and cutting the metal again, the object was reduced in size and at the same time became more complex sculpturally, further alienating the digitally printed image motif. According to Metzel, this is intended not only to explore the sculptural possibilities, but also to reference the formal principles of repetition between duplication and variation.¹
Like the Bondstore Lockers, Metzel’s aluminum wall sculptures exploit the creative potential of deformation – although here the aggressive act is only simulated and the form is actually the result of precise sculptural action. They show enlarged and thematically grouped newspaper clippings – folded and bent like carelessly crumpled newspaper or discarded artistic designs, making it impossible to fully grasp the original content. The result is a physical lightness that contrasts with the material and the technically complex execution: for the aluminum sculptures, digitally printed metal plates are deformed by hand until the object achieves a certain stability and has the desired aesthetics in terms of form and motif. Metzel uses templates from print media, newspapers, and books for this purpose. The fold entitled Empört (Outraged) reveals the word within a crumpled image of Douglas Kirkland’s photograph of contact strips from Andy Warhol’s Trash, Die die Die reads DIE GESAMTE VERDAMMTE KACKE (The Whole Damned Shit) – a motif from a book by Dieter Roth.
Text: Eva Scharrer

¹ Olaf Metzel in an Email to the author in August 2022.